


Summer Day

by VKatja



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28287753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VKatja/pseuds/VKatja
Summary: Cursed to a life of isolation, Mathias has been condemned to die the day he leaves his room. On his sixteenth birthday, he risks it all for a day at the beach. There, he meets Angelica, a mermaid that will single-handedly change his life.Christmas present for pvffinsnyo (IG) She came up with the plot and I'm writing it out for her.
Relationships: Denmark/Nyo!Italy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pvffinsnyo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=pvffinsnyo).



Mathias was cold. The window was open, but he was far too small to reach the knob and close it. Wrapped in his only blanket, he shivered on his bed, waiting—hoping—for his parents to come. He perked up when he heard hushed voices outside.  
"Thank you," his father was saying. "We've been…"  
The rest was drowned by the wind and Mathias's sniff.  
"Where is he?" a voice he didn't know asked.  
"… room," he heard his mother reply as the door opened.  
He jumped on his feet, smile up to his ears. His parents were home. They would come and help him. Maybe they would even give him another blanket. His own door opened and Mathias almost ran to hug them, but the man who walked in his room was not his father. He was tall, blond, and he looked terribly annoyed.  
His mother was right behind the stranger, and Mathias looked at her.  
"Mom?" he asked, feeling deep in his guts that something was wrong. "Mom, who is this?"  
"A sorcerer," she replied in a voice colder than the wind.  
Mathias knew it, nothing good was going to happen. There was a painful knot in his throat, and he wanted nothing more than a warm hug.  
The man muttered some words Mathias couldn't understand and touched his forehead. His own skin glew pale red for a few seconds and he shivered.  
"Mom?" he repeated, tears threatening to spill—but his parents hated when he cried. "What's going on?"  
She didn't even meet his eyes.  
"From now on," the man declared flatly, "you won't be able to leave this room."  
"But…"  
"Oh, you can try. But you'll die before the end of the day."  
Mathias didn't understand. He knew what dying meant. Dying didn't happen to healthy little boys, the neighbor had said so.  
His eyes were burning.  
"Why?" he quavered.  
"Ask your parents."  
It was all the man said before he left the room, slamming the door with an air of finality.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been ten years, ten long years. Mathias still remembered that night. He hadn't taken a step out of his room since then. He hadn't seen either of his parents since then either, except occasionally through the window. At least, he had Björn, his older brother. Björn brought him food, and stories from outside. He was a fisher like their father, but that was, to Mathias, their only common point.  
"Here," he said one day, giving a large, pink seashell to Mathias. "I found this at the beach. I thought you'd like it."  
Mathias grinned.  
"Thanks! It'll look great on my wall. How did it go, today?"  
"Pretty good," Björn shrugged. "You know, I could have sworn I saw a kraken under the boat."  
Mathias laughed.  
"A kraken? Please, they don't exist."  
Björn replied by a blank look.  
"Says the cursed one. How can you know? You've never been close to the water."  
"Fair point," he shrugged. "Do you think you could bring me back a book, next time you go in the city? I'm getting really bored."  
"You say that every single day."  
Björn got up.  
"I'll try, but you have so many books that I'm not sure I can find one you haven't read."  
"I trust you. Do you want to help me put the seashell up with the others?"  
Björn walked in his room with natural, and as always, it made Mathias's heart hurt a little. Björn was completely unaffected by the curse. Björn was loved by their parents—he was wanted, he was a good son, everything that Mathias was not. But this was part of why Mathias loved him so much: Björn had no reason to be there for Mathias, but he still was. To Mathias, there was no better person in this world than Björn.  
"I think it'd look great here," Björn suggested, pointing at the link of seashells decorating the window.  
It was Mathias's favorite decoration. When the wind and the sun hit it just right, the seashells would move, creating shadows on the wall, and soft melodies to break the heavy silence of the day.  
Björn tied the seashell with the others, listening to a few bad jokes Mathias had come up with earlier. Then their mother called him for dinner, and Björn had to leave.  
It was disappointing as always, but this time, Mathias didn't mind too much. He sat down by the window and stared outside, watching the sun set over the sea. It was always beautiful, sometimes even breath-taking, and Mathias never got tired of it.  
"One day," he whispered.  
One day, he'd get to play in the waves, to burrow his toes in the warm sand and to pick himself his seashells.  
One day, he would watch the sunset from the beach.  
Sighing, he grabbed his knife and carved another line in the wall. His sixteenth birthday was soon, and so was the tenth anniversary of his curse.

He woke up to the sound of his brother's steps in the hallway. The sun wasn't even up yet, a perfect time for fishing, apparently.  
Mathias didn't feel tired. He was sixteen, now. He was a man.  
No one beside Björn cared about it, but it wasn't a day for moping around in his bed. He ran to the wall to check his size, but it hadn't changed from the day before. He didn't let that deter him and he started methodically cleaning his spotless room as the rising sun slowly brought in some light.  
When the wind brought a voice through the window, Mathias perked up. It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard, and he walked up to the window to hear better.  
The voice was too far to be heard properly, but it sounded like a singing girl. The sound came from the sea, like the sea itself called for him. Mesmerized, he raced out of his room and down the fields. He was going to die, now, it was inevitable, but he could hardly bring himself to think about it: the sea was waiting for him.  
With each step, the voice got louder. He kept running, running from his prison, running from his cursed life, running toward a short, but sweet freedom.  
"I DID IT!" he yelled as his feet sunk in the sand—it wasn't nearly as warm as he had expected.  
He jumped in the water without a second thought. It was cold, and it really did taste like salt. But he didn't stop there, he wanted to find the voice. He thought that the girl had been just down at the beach, but there were no traces of anyone. He kept walking, following the still singing voice. It sounded clearer, now, a wordless melody with echoes of a warmth and a happiness he had never had the chance to live.  
"Hello?" he called. "Is anybody here?"  
The voice stopped immediately and his heart sank in his chest.  
"Hello? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, or…"  
"Are your hair for real?" a girl's voice asked, biting back a laugh.  
She was neck-deep in the water, her brown hair floating freely around. Her eyes sparkled with amusement.  
"I… uh, yeah? Hi, my name is Mathias."  
She swam towards him and Mathias finally noticed her shimmering tail.  
"You're a mermaid?!" he exclaimed loudly.  
She frowned.  
"And you're a human boy, but you don't see me complaining about it."  
"I… I've heard about your species, but I didn't realise…"  
She rolled her eyes.  
"I thought you were friendly, but if you're just going to be rude, I'm leaving."  
"No, no, wait!" he begged, stepping back in the water. "I'm sorry, it's just… It's the first time I leave home, I've never seen a mermaid before. What's your name?"  
"Angelica," she replied, looking a little lost. "Why don't you get out more often? That doesn't sound very fun."  
"I'm cursed."  
She frowned.  
"Not cool."  
"I'm going to die by the end of the day."  
Her frown deepened.  
"Harsh. Hey, you know what? You've got to make the most of today, then. I'm going to show you around, okay? You can't waste your last day."  
He grinned and squeezed her in his arms, nearly losing his footing and slamming his head on the water. It made her laugh.  
"Thank you so much!"  
"Alright," she said, pushing him back on his feet. "Let's head off to the city! We've got a lot of stuff to see there. There's a whole ton more in the sea, but you wouldn't see much of it."  
He moved back on the sand and followed her as she swam towards the buildings in the distance.  
"So tell me, human boy," she asked. "What brings you here, if you're going to die?"  
Now that he was in front of the owner of the voice, it felt a lot more embarrassing to admit. Still, he cleared his throat.  
"Well, I… I heard someone sing—and it was you, I guess—and I was curious, and… and I guess I'm tired of being locked up. I want to live for real, even if it's just for a day."  
Angelica nodded thoughtfully.  
"How flattering, my voice is pretty enough to convince a human boy to die."  
His smile fell and she burst out laughing.  
"Oh, don't be like that, I'm joking."  
"But isn't it the point of your voices?" Mathias asked. "It attracts sailors so you can eat them?"  
Angelica grimaced and splashed him.  
"Ewww, absolutely not. What kind of barbarians do you take us for? Why would we even want to eat sailors? They're stinky."  
"I don't know," Mathias apologized. "That's what I've read in books."  
Angelica shook her head with a small smile.  
"Don't believe everything you read. We'll have to redo your entire education in a single day, apparently. But you got lucky you met me and not my sister, because boy does her education worry me."  
"You have a sister?"  
"Chiara," she nodded. "I love her to death, but she's, uh… You don't want to be next to her when she's in a bad mood—which is to say most of the time."  
Mathias laughed.  
"I don't have a sister, but I have a brother. His name is Björn, and he's the best. He's my best friend."  
"Not very surprising if you can't leave your room," she joked before slamming a hand on her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was rude."  
"Eh," he shrugged. "Death is too close to get offended."  
"Well said," she nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

They reached the city a little while later. There was a huge canal linking the sea to the inside of the city, and Angelica swam through it, leading him through the maze the city was to him. He had never seen so many people, both human and merpeople, and he spent so much time looking up and around that he tripped at least four times before reaching Angelica's destination.  
"There!" she said, pointing to a cute shop. "That's my favorite bakery. Have you had breakfast yet?"  
"I didn't get the time to."  
"Great! I'm friends with the owner, she used to babysit me when I was a kid."  
She came in through the merpeople's entrance, a tunnel with a glass roof leaving from the canal into the shop, and Mathias opened the door awkwardly, unsure of what he was supposed to do. The place smelt heavenly though—just like when Björn baked, but even better.  
"Good morning," a woman with long brown hair greeted. She smiled warmly, looking at him expectantly.  
"He's with me, Erzsi," Angelica said.  
She was already sitting at a table in the back, tying her hair up in a ponytail. Half of the seats were inside of open tubes linked to the canal and Mathias couldn't help a grin. He never saw this kind of things at home.  
"My, my, you finally brought a boy?" Erzsi asked with a sly grin.  
Angelica waved her off with a laugh.  
"I'm his guide for the day. Bring us the best you've got, he never stepped out of his house."  
Erzsi winked, pushing Mathias towards the table before disappearing behind the counter.  
"That was Erzsébet," Angelica introduced. "My old babysitter."  
"This place is amazing," Mathias said, still looking around.  
There weren't all that many people so early in the morning, but the handful he saw were enough to make his head spin. So many different types of clothes, so many different voices and accents. He saw more different kinds of food displayed here than he had ever seen in his plate. Erzsébet walked back out with a pile of pastries.  
"Here," she said, putting it down in front of Mathias. "Wienerbrød, have you ever tried it?"  
"I've heard the name before," Mathias replied.  
He had already overheard his mother add it to the grocery list, he supposed it had to be good.  
"My husband makes the best of the city. Enjoy."  
She shot them one last smile before going through a door in the back.  
"Go ahead," Angelica said, grabbing one with a red filling. "Eat as much as you want, they're delicious."  
Mathias grabbed a yellow one hesitantly, it was still warm. He took a bite and his eyes widened in delight. Angelica laughed, watching him wolf down the whole plate.  
"This tastes better than anything I've ever eaten!" he exclaimed.  
"Roderich is a great baker," Angelica nodded. "I'll tell him you liked it. Now come on, we still have a lot of things to do, and not that much time to do them."  
She dropped a pile of coins on the table and slid back into the water. Mathias hurried to follow.  
From the books he had read, they were in the oldest part of the city, the Latin Quarter.  
"This is my favorite place on land," Angelica explained, swimming on her back. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"  
"I think you're beautiful too," Mathias grinned playfully.  
Angelica threw water at his face, snickering. She stood up, looking through the thin morning crowd.  
"Hey, look! That's my cousin Romeo. He's a darling, but he's a little simple minded."  
She waved, and a boy a little younger than they were ran up to them.  
"Hey, Gelato," her cousin greeted. "What are you doing here? Is that your boyfriend?"  
"No," they replied simultaneously.  
"No, absolutely not," Angelica insisted.  
"She's just showing me around," Mathias precised, feeling a little too warm.  
Romeo looked at him quietly for a few seconds, like estimating him.  
"Okay!" he finally said. "Well, have fun on your not-date. Angelica, remind Chiara that she owes me, alright? She knows what it's about."  
"Will do, see you later," Angelica said, already moving away.  
"See ya, Gelato. See ya, not-boyfriend."  
He walked away with a bounce to his step, giggling like he found himself very funny.  
"Excuse him," Angelica waved off. "He's at the age."  
"The age?" Mathias repeated, confused.  
Angelica blinked at him.  
"Oh. Oh, right, you probably didn't… Well, uh, boys get a little annoying when they're teenagers. They like to talk about relationships. Anyway, we have a lot of other things to see here."  
The "things" they saw were mainly friends and family members of hers, but Mathias didn't mind. His family had always been him, his brother, and their parents—if he could even call them that. Watching such a large, loving and happy family gave him a whole new view of the world. It wasn't only his cold room, Björn, and the sea far away, it was also Angelica, the Latin Quarter, her annoying little cousins and overbearing aunts, it was also her summer camp friends, the baker down the street, the sun hitting his head and the delicious smell of what Angelica introduced to him as "Italian cuisine".  
Mathias loved every single part of it.


	4. Chapter 4

The church's bell rang once, echoing through the city. They had left the Latin Quarter, stomachs full and feeling tired.  
"What would you say about visiting a museum?" Angelica offered. "It's slow and chill, we can just digest in front of a painting."  
"Sounds fantastic," Mathias panted.  
He had never walked so much in his life, and his legs were painful. He welcomed the shadow of the building Angelica took him in, and they sat down in front of the biggest painting they found, leaning against each other. Mathias put his feet down in the water, enjoying the cool feeling on his aching bare feet. Now he understood better the point of Björn's sturdy boots.  
"Look at how pretty that woman is," Angelica said, pointing to a blond woman in a garden.  
There was a text underneath, but Mathias was too far to read it.  
"She looks exactly like me," Mathias joked.  
Angelica elbowed him.  
"Oh, does she? Look at this guy over there, he could be your twin."  
She pointed to an old man with a very impressive mustache.  
"He does look like me," Mathias agreed, biting back a laugh. "Hey, that's you!"  
He pointed to a frowning peasant and Angelica snickered, sliding back in the water.  
"I'm absolutely certain that this one was made using you as a model," she assured, pointing to a large naked lady.  
Mathias posed dramatically.  
"I'm gorgeous, aren't I?"  
They kept moving through the hallways, pretending to see each other in the ugliest paintings they could find, being shushed every so often.  
"Oh, look!" Angelica exclaimed. "Your past life!"  
She pointed to the trash can and Mathias laughed so hard that he fell in the canal, splashing the hallway.  
Their laughter died down immediately and they swam away as fast as they could, thanking every god they could think of for the lack of witnesses.  
Once certain they were far enough, they burst out laughing.  
"You should have seen your face." Angelica snorted before slamming a hand on her mouth, embarrassed.  
Mathias laughed even harder.  
"This is the best day of my life," he declared.  
Angelica's smile wavered a little, but it came back quickly.  
"Me too. Let's keep going, there is so much I want to show you."  
Mathias wasn't a very good swimmer—to not say he had no idea of how to move in the water—so Angelica dragged him through the rest of the expo, a lot more quietly. They really didn't want to be kicked out.  
Watching the paintings, Mathias suddenly froze, locking eyes with one of the people painted.  
Tall, blond, looking annoyed, he had seen that man before—ten years before, to be more precise. It was the wizard who had cursed him.  
"What's wrong?" Angelica asked.  
"It's… It's nothing."  
One of the employees seemed to notice his interest for the painting, because she walked up to him.  
"Can I help you?" she offered cheerfully.  
"Who is the man in that painting?" he asked despite him.  
"Which one?"  
There was another one next to him, nearly identical but about a head smaller.  
"Both?"  
She nodded, smiling.  
"The sorcerer brothers," she said somewhat mystically. "No one knows where they are from, or where they are at all. People see them around here every so often. Rumours say that the eldest, Lukas, had served under the kings of old, back when magic was everywhere, when everyone believed in it. It isn't surprising that someone so old could turn sour.  
According to the legend, Lukas had become so bored, so annoyed with his own life that he started spreading misery for fun. He finds innocent people and curses them, just to distract himself."  
Mathias swallowed uncomfortably. Angelica glanced at him, seemingly understanding where his interest came from.  
"And what about the second one?" she asked hopefully. "Is he any better?"  
"Oh, yes," the employee nodded with a warm smile. "He never agreed with his brother's actions. It is said that he follows him from a distance, and that when he finds a cursed person, he gives them something special, something truly magical to make up for the pain. His magic isn't as strong as his brother's, it's all he can do."  
"I wish we could meet him," Angelica muttered, looking down.  
"Don't wish too hard," the employee replied. "It would mean that you have met his brother before, and I wouldn’t wish that to anyone."  
They thanked her and moved on, but the mood wasn't quite the same.  
"I wish I'd met the brother," Mathias said quietly.  
"Maybe you already have. I've heard the story before, on a school trip. If I remember well, most people don't realise they've met him until much later. Maybe it's your case as well?"  
Mathias sighed.  
"I appreciate the support, but I still haven't seen any magical thing making up for the pain."  
Angelica simply took his hand and they kept paddling slowly through the paintings Mathias didn't see anymore. In just a few hours now, he would die, just because a sorcerer felt "bored". Mathias had felt bored his whole life, locked up in his room, but he hadn't ever ruined someone's life for it.  
He didn't even notice where they were until Angelica let go of his hand to sit out of the canal.  
"Look," she said softly. "That's where you have the best view of the city."  
Mathias finally looked up, and his breath was taken away. He could see the entire city unfolding under him: old and colorful houses, insect-sized people walking around, the sun shining on the water. He teared up a little.  
"It's beautiful," he whispered.  
"Isn't it?" Angelica nodded. "I wish I could spend my whole life here. I always feel like my problems disappear, like I'm over them. I'm too high to be reached."  
Mathias took her hand again and she rested her head on his shoulder.  
"Thank you for bringing me here."  
"Do you want to stay here, or are there other things you want to see?"  
Mathias wanted to stay forever, but his eyes fell on a tiny ice cream parlor on the dock. He had never eaten ice cream before, it looked delicious.  
"Let's stay for a few minutes and then try out these ice creams?"  
"Good choice," Angelica smiled. "I've been there before, their ice creams are amazing."

They didn't wait long to rush to the docks, covered in screaming birds—seagulls, Angelica precised. She got them two cones with her three favorite perfumes : chocolate, vanilla and chocolate. Mathias tried to point out that she had chosen chocolate twice, but she only stared at him in a mix of horror and disgust, so Mathias accepted the two slightly different chocolates.  
"This is the taste I expect heaven to have," Mathias declared, licking all three at the same time.  
"I know," Angelica agreed. "I told you they were amazing. I used to come here when I was younger. My sister would always take the exact same ice cream, and after a while, the vendor just knew what to make when he saw her."  
Mathias smiled. He wished he could have had these kinds of memories, but hearing them from Angelica was almost just as good.  
"Do you only have a sister, or…"  
He didn't get to finish his sentence, a seagull threw itself on his ice cream, ripping it out of his hands.  
"HEY!" he yelled, but a flock of seagulls was already fighting for it. "THAT WAS MY ICE CREAM!"  
Angelica didn't even help, crying from laughter. He supposed he had to take the matter into his own hands and threw himself at the birds.  
He regretted that decision when he found himself in the water, severly pinched and a few feathers stuck in his hair.  
On the positive side, the water was just knee deep.  
"If you're done laughing, can you help me get back up?" Mathias grumbled, ego a bit crumpled.  
"I… I never saw… saw someone fighting seagulls for… for an ice cream," Angelica panted, her own ice cream long fallen, though she was still holding the cone.  
But she did point to a ladder on the side.  
Ten minutes later, she had calmed down, and they finished their second ice creams, sitting further away from the birds.  
"I wish I could have filmed that," she sighed, wiping a tear.  
"Please don't. I don't want to be remembered as the guy who lost a fight to birds."  
"Too late, I'll write seagull-fighter on your tombstone."  
Mathias snorted, sitting back and enjoying the view.  
"This place sure is prett… Oh!"  
The cutest bird he had ever seen landed on a nearby bench.  
"I want to pet him," he hissed.  
"Haven't you had enough of birds?" Angelica snickered.  
"But this one is cute," Mathias protested.  
He got up, sneaking the best he could. He held his hand out and the bird turned around, staring him down.  
"What do you think you're doing?" it said in a scarily manly voice. The kind of voice birds should never have. Not that birds should be speaking in the first place.  
"Petting you?" Mathias squeaked, feeling horribly embarrassed.  
"Who're you taking me for, punk?! A dog?!"  
Scoffing, the puffin flew off to sit on the head of a blond man who disappeared in the crowd.  
"… What just happened?"  
And he walked back to Angelica.  
"Did you hear that?" he asked.  
"Hear what?"  
"That bird talked to me!"  
"Of course it didn't," she frowned. "Birds don't talk."  
"I swear it talked to me!"  
"If… you say so. Do you want to come see the botanic garden or are you going back to bird hunting?"  
"Botanic garden."  
But he was absolutely certain that the bird had talked.


	5. Chapter 5

They reached the garden, but something felt off. Angelica read him the descriptions of the plants, talking about a thing or another, but Mathias could barely hear her. His stomach felt heavy, and so did his head and his feet.  
He tried to keep going, to nod every so often to make it look like he was understanding, but when she caught his arm, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep going.  
"Are you alright?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.  
"I… I'm… not really."  
The church's bell rang once more, and his stomach sunk further. A couple more hours.  
Angelica hugged him tightly, drenching his dry-at-last clothes, but Mathias could have cared less.  
"Let's go back to the beach," he asked.  
It was where he had always wanted to go. It felt like a right place to die.  
Going back was a lot slower than leaving. Every step was dragged, and his head was spinning. The moment he reached the sand, he sank on his knees. The sun was already setting.  
Angelica hugged him once more, running her hand slowly through his hair. She was crying.  
"It's going to be alright," she sniffed. "The brother is going to comme, he'll make everything better. You're not going to die. You're not going to die."  
Mathias hugged back with what little strength he had left.  
"Thank you for making today the best day of my life," he whispered. He was too weak to be any louder.  
"Don't say that," she insisted. "You'll have a lot of others after. I… I really like you, Mathias. I want us to go visit the city together again."  
"That would be nice."  
But it wouldn't ever happen.  
His body was throbbing, and he couldn't move anymore. Even his toes were weighing him down, and he could barely feel them.  
She started humming, her lips pressed against his forehead. He had read once that merfolk's voices had power, but he didn't think healing a curse was one of them.  
"The brother is going to come," she repeated, more to herself than to him.  
Mathias remembered the painting, the blond hair and the youthful, bored face. There had been something on his shoulder, something that looked like a bird.  
"I think I saw him already," he mumbled.  
"Don't say that," Angelica begged. "Don't say that."  
"You're the magical thing he gave me," he smiled, even though he couldn't see her anymore. "You made my life worth living."  
"Mathias, please."  
"Please, find my brother. Tell him I appreciated what he did for me, that I hope he'll live a happy life."  
She held him closer, sniffling.  
"I will."  
"Thank you. You're the most amazing person I've ever met."  
She let out a wet laugh.  
"It isn't that hard."  
Mathias laughed too. He felt himself slip, but his body didn't move.  
"I promise I'll never forget you," she whispered.  
He tried to reply, but his tongue was too heavy.  
 _I love you_ , he wanted to say. _Thank you for being you._  
The words never left his mouth, and he closed his eyes.


End file.
